Shoe shining kit



March 27, 1945. R, H, AWD 2,372,556 sHoE`sHVINING KIT Filed Nov. 4. i942.

Patented Mar. 27, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE SHINING KIT Roger Harry David, St. Paul, Minn. Application November 4, 1942, Serial No. 464,439

2 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in shoe shining kit, wherein it is desired to provide a self contained kit useful in the shining of shoes and the like.

Various types of shoe shining kits have been constructed and are in common use at the present time. Most of these kits include polish contained either in a metal container or a bottle, and include means for applying the polish and means for brushing or rubbing the polish to a shiny finish. As a resultsuch kits are usually bulky and are not particularly easy to carry from place to place. l

The object of the present invention lies in the provision of a selfcontained kit which is small and compact and which contains all of the materials necessary for the shining of shoes and the like. This kitmay accordingly be easily car ried in the pocket, in a suit case, or a hand bag, where itis instantly available for use.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a shoe shining cloth which is useful for polishing the shoes, and which contains a pocket for receiving a stick of shoe polish. When notin use the cloth is wrapped about the stick of polish protecting the same and providing a soft outer surface which will not mar anything with which it comes in contact, The covering of cloth about the stick acts to protect the material form ing the stick and maintains the polish stick in proper form.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of an elongated AfieXible polishing strip of cloth or other suitable material within which the stick may be wrapped, and in the provision of a pocket at one end of the cloth into which the wrapped stick body may be inserted. As a result the wrapped stick may be tucked into the pocket and may thus beretained in its wrapped formation.

A further feature of the present invention lies in the provision of an elongated polishing strip having a pocket at one end thereof into which thestick of polish may be removably inserted, and having a self-containing pocket at the opposite end thereof into which the wrapped stick body may be inserted. By providing such a structure the polish stick may be merely inserted at its proper pocket, the cloth Wrapped about the same. and the body of the strip and the polish stick wound therein may be inserted into the self-containing pocket provided at the other end of the strip for this purpose.

A further feature of the present invention lies in the provision of an elongated fabric strip which is provided with a soft fleecy polishing surface on one side and a hard fabric backing surface on the other side thereof. This strip is folded at its ends to provide a hard finished surface at both ends of the strip on the polishing side thereof so that the strip may be firmly engaged by the ngers for the polishing operation.

A further feature of the present invention lies in the tapering of the cloth so that the body of the strip together with the polish stick wrapped therein, may be inserted in the self-containing pocket. The end of the strip at which the selfcontaining pocket is located is Wider than the remainder of the strip, the taper being greatest near the pocket and being slight through the remainder of the length of the strip. As a result, the strip body within which the polish stick is wrapped fits into the self-containing pocket without excessive crowding.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the` drawing forming a part of my speci- `iication:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the shoe polish ing kit in folded form.

Figure :2' is a `plan View of the polishing strip in unfolded form.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the kit in unfolded position showing a polish stick in its pocket.

Figure 4 is a sectional view through the polishingv kit in `folded position.

Figure 5 is a greatly enlarged view illustrating the soft fleecy surface on one side of the cloth strip and the hard finished surface on the opposite side thereof, this View being diagrammatic to show the difference between the sides of the material.

The polishing kit A includes an elongated fabric strip Ill and a polish stick II designed to be contained thereby. The polishing strip IU isl preferably formed of flexible cloth which has a fleecy or furry surface I2 designed to provide the polishing surface and a hard finished surface I3 the end Il of the strip IU, continuing the tape along the longitudinal edge I9 of the strip I 0 opposite the edge I6 thereof, and extending the tape along the end of the strip HJ opposite the end il. Thus the tape is secured by stitching 2| entirely bounding the edges of the strip I0.

For convenience in attachment and for an improvement in the appearance of the product, the corners 22 and 23 between the end il and the side edges it .and i9, respectively,y are rounded. A rounded. corner 24 is likewise provided between the longitudinal strip edge i9 and the end 20 of the stripy IU to facilitate the insertion and removal of the polish stick il which is to be contained `adjacent this edge.

A relatively short portion of the strip l0 is folded along the fold line 25 to form an end flap 26. This end flap is secured in folded relation by a row of stitching 27 which extends along the strip end 2E) from the edge i5 thereof to the rounded corner 2d. A second row of stitching 29 secures the edge IG of the end ap 26 to the edge I6 of the body of the strip lli, as best illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing. A second line of stitching Sil is also preferably |provided parallel to the stitching 29 and spaced inwardly from the edge I5, this stitching 3@ extending transversely of the end iiap 25.

It will be noted that the polish stick l I may be inserted into the pocket 3| formed between the flap 2t and the body of the strip Ii), the insertion of this polish stick being limited by the stitching 31B, This prevents the polish stick from being extended directly to the edge i6 of the strip l il facilitating the insertion of the stick and strip I0 Wrapped thereabout, into the pocket at the other end of the strip, which will later be described in detail. The rounded corner 24 facilitates the insertion and removal of the polish stick Il.

At the opposite end of the strip iii a pocket is formed by folding a lportion of the body of the stripupon itself along the fold line 32 which is spaced from and parallel to the end Il of the strip, The flap 33 provided by folding along the fold line t2 is held in this folded position by two parallel rows of stitching 3ft and 35. The stitching 3d extends along the edge l of the strip, while the stitching 35 extends along the edge I9 thereof. A Ipocket 36 is thus formed between the flap 33 and the body of the strip.

While they strip is generally rectangular in shape, it tapers somewhat to facilitate the insertion of the strip body and the polish stick Il wrapped therein, into the pocket 35. With particular reference to Figure 2 of the drawing, it will be noted that the flaps 33 and the contiguous portion of the strip body over which the flap is folded is a dimension 3l in width. From the open end of the pocket 36, the strip il.) tapers in width to a dimension 3S at a point slightly spaced from the end l'l of the pocket 35. From this point to the fold line 25 of the strip E, the strip tapers gradually to a dimension dt.

Because of this gradually tapering construction, the body of the strip Ill, with the polish stick il wrapped therein, may be easily inserted into the pocket 35. The crowding of the material into the pocket is thus relieved.

In operation the polish stick Il is inserted in the lpocket 3l through the open end of the pocket adjacent the edge it of the strip lil. When the polish stick has been inserted the strip Il! is wrapped about the polish stick, this wrapping continuing until the stick is closely adjacent the pocket 36. The stick with the cloth strip wrapped thereabout is then tucked into the pocket 36 as illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 of the drawing, providing a self-contained kit which may be opened at will. The hard outer surface of the cloth engages against the ileecy inner surface of the pocket 36, frictionally holding the wrapped stick in 'place within the pocket 3B until the polish is desired for use.

The polish stick I I may be used by merely rubbing the stick upon the surface of the leather to be shined. The polish cloth lil is then engaged one hand engaging each end of the strip. The fieecy surface is used for the polishing action, although the harder outer surface may be also used when such a surface is desired. The pockets at the ends of the strip form a convenient hold for engaging the ends of the strip to prevent the strip from being lpulled from the hands in use.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my shoe polish kit, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best 'embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

l. A shoe shining kit including an elongated strip of flexible material having a soft ileecy surface on one side and a relatively hard surface on theother side, said strip including two end portions and an intermediate portion connected along substantially parallel fold lines, a pocket formed at one end of said strip, said pocket being formed by folding one end portion of the strip upon the intermediate portion thereof along one of said fold lines and securing the folded portion. to the intermediate portion along one longitudinal edge of the strip and along the adjacent extreme end of the strip parallel to the line of fold, the pocket being open adjacent the other longitudinal edge of the strip to receive a stick of polish material inserted transversely of the length of the strip, a second pocket formed at the other end of the strip, said second pocket being formed by folding the other end portion of the strip along the other of said fold lines upon the intermediate portion and securing the longitudinal edges of the folded other end portion` to the intermediate portion, the adjacent extreme end of the strip being open to form a means of access to said pocket, said second pocket being slightly wider than the rst named pocket and being designed to receive the body of the strip wrapped about the first named pocket containing the stick of polish material, both of said pockets being formed with the hard surface of the material outermost and with the fleecy surface innermost so as to frictionally contain the polish stick and the body of the strip respectively, the second pocket forming a nger hold at one end of the strip, and the first pocket with the polish stick therein forming a hand hold for the other hand 'whereby the strip may be held by both hands.

2. A shoe polish kit comprising an elongated strip of flexible material having a soft fleecy surface on one side and a hard finished surface on the other side, said strip comprising two end portions and an intermediate portion connected along substantially parallel fold lines. a rounded corner at one-end of said strip, a pocket formed by folding said one end portion of said strip upon the intermediate portion of the strip along one of said fold lines, and connecting the folded portion 'to the intermediate portion along a line parallel to the line of fold and along a longitudinal edge of the lfolded portion, the rounded corner and adjacent longitudinal edge of the stri-p forming an opening to said pocket, a stick of shoe ,polish contained' in said pocket and transferably removable through said opening, the other end of said strip being slightly Wider than said one end, a second pocket formed in said other end of said strip by folding said other end portion upon the intermediate pory tion of the strip along the other of said fold 

